In this thrilling debut for fans of Karin Slaughter and Riley Sager, a social worker turned true-crime podcaster investigates a decades-old serial killer cold case-only to unwittingly create new victims.
Former social worker Elle Castillo is the host of a popular true-crime podcast that tackles cold cases of missing children in her hometown. After four seasons of successful investigations, Elle decides to tackle her white whale- the Countdown Killer, or TCK.
Twenty years ago, TCK established a pattern of taking and ritualistically murdering girls, each a year younger than the last. No one's ever known why-why he stopped abruptly with his eleven-year-old victim, or why he followed the ritual at all.
Weeks into her new season, Elle sets out to interview a listener promising a tip, only to discover his dead body. When a child is abducted days later, in a pattern that looks very familiar, Elle is convinced TCK is back. Will she be able to get law enforcement on her side and stop TCK before it's too late?
A gripping and engrossing mystery-thriller
As an aficionado of true crime podcasts myself (the Australian Casefile production in particular), I was immediately drawn into the world of Girl, 11. Amy Suiter Clarke's new release mystery-thriller features a main character who produces her own well-researched and popular podcast, Justice Delayed, based in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
The main narrative is interspersed with transcripts of Elle Castillo's current podcast series, focussing on the crimes of a brutal and unidentified abductor-murderer of young women, known as The Countdown Killer (TCK). Over twenty years previously, TCK abducted a series of women and girls, each victim a year younger than her predecessor, and each found dead exactly seven days after her disappearance, with the exception of the last intended victim, an 11-year-old girl, who escaped her captor. In the present, it seems Elle's investigation has stirred the long-dormant killer, as a potential witness is killed virtually under Elle's nose, and another 11-year-old girl goes missing.
As Elle, a former child protection officer, chases down leads provided by her listener base, she liaises with her contacts within the local law enforcement and forensics community, including her own husband, Martín Castillo, a forensic pathologist. Not unexpectedly, this uneasy relationship gives rise to many ructions, as Elle repeatedly withholds information and oversteps the mark as she involves herself in the current investigation. Amy Suiter Clarke explores the phenomenon of true-crime podcasts - their proven popularity with listeners, occasional tendency to prurience or voyeurism, their magnetism to trolls and weirdos and occasional potential to aid police in solving long-running "cold cases".
I found Girl, 11 stimulating and compulsively readable, with a genuinely thrilling conclusion and several well-plotted twists along the way. Some of Elle's decisions and behaviour, and the relative forbearance of police, especially her friend and former colleague Commander Ayaan Ridwaan, stretched credibility at times. However, this isn't an unusual experience within the genre and most readers are, like myself, prepared to suspend their disbelief for the sake of a good story. Amy Suiter Clarke's strong characterisations really galvanised her imaginative and complex plot. Elle Castillo is a flawed but incredibly conscientious investigator, with a complex personal history that's gradually revealed over the course of the book. Her relationships with both her husband, the supportive but deeply concerned Martín, and the intriguing police Commander Ayaan Ridwaan are convincing, and reinforce the emotional toll this particular case is taking on Elle and those around her.
I'd strongly recommend Girl, 11 to any and all readers who enjoy an action-packed but cerebral mystery-thriller. I'd be delighted if Amy Suiter Clarke were minded to continue a series featuring these characters.
Sarah, 15/06/2021
